Even more ways to boost your fundraising

There are lots of ways to raise money for your event beyond simply asking for sponsorship. Here are some more ideas to make your fundraising go even further.

Contact your charity

Your nominated charity can be a great source of help and information.

Check out their website
You’ll probably find resources on your charity’s website like logos and information about their current projects. You can use this when you’re talking about the difference your fundraising will make.

Get some extra fundraising materials
Your charity might be able to send you some promotional materials to use to encourage people to sponsor you – so get in touch with them to see how they can help you.

Raise money at work

Fundraising doesn’t have to start and end at home. Plenty of your colleagues will have waved a sponsorship form around, but you can be more creative.

Get your message across
Whether your workplace has a staff only website or a noticeboard in the kitchen, make use of it to tell everyone about your fundraising event and the charity you're raising money for. Use our fundraising toolkit to design posters or cards to leave on people’s desks. And remember to include a clear link to your Virgin Money Giving page to take any donations.

If you don’t ask...
Be bold and ask your employer for a donation. Some of our fundraisers have even had their sponsorship totals matched by their employers.

Holiday raffle
If your employer agrees, you could hold a raffle where the lucky winner gets a day off work!

Jeans day
See if your employer will let you organise a 'wear jeans to work day'. Charge everyone £1 to take part, which you could either walk round and collect or send out a link to your fundraising page to take the money – people may donate more that way.

Donation of resources
You could also ask at work if you can use some office supplies – you might be able to photocopy your posters or use other supplies to spread the word about your fundraising.

Car wash day
Get a few friendly colleagues involved, roll up your sleeves and offer to wash cars for a donation.

Hold charity events

Have a car boot sale
Sort out old clothes or unwanted gifts, then ask for donations or sell them on Ebay or at a car boot sale. If you tell people where the money will be going, they may even chip in a bit more for the things you’re selling.

Organise a local pub quiz
Have some fun while you’re fundraising. You could theme the questions around your event or charity and even ask the pub to donate the prize.

Run a ‘human raffle’!
Run a raffle and volunteer your services for the day as the prize. You’ll have some fun, promote your charity and generate some money all at the same time.

Get baking!
Selling cakes to friends or at work can be really profitable – who can say no to a cupcake with their cuppa?

Earn some donations
You could offer to help people with odd jobs – take dogs for walks, babysit, do ironing for friends and family. This way, people get something in return for their donation and may be more generous.

Ask for birthday donations
If you’ve got a birthday coming up, why not ask your friends and family to donate to your fundraising page instead of buying you a present – money they’d be spending anyway.

Get in touch with local businesses

There are all sorts of ways local businesses can help raise awareness and more money for your fundraising event. Don’t be afraid to ask – it’s good PR for their business too.

Advertise your event
Ask if you can put a poster in local shop windows, or leave some leaflets and a collection tin on the counter.

Ask for prizes
Rather than ask for sponsorship money, you could ask for donated prizes and then raffle them off to raise funds. You could end up with gift vouchers from shops, dinner prizes from restaurants, money to spend at a butcher's etc.

Promote their brand
If a business needs some persuading, you could offer to promote them in return by wearing a t-shirt or jacket with their branding during your training or on the day of your fundraising event.

Reach a wider audience
Don’t limit yourself to retail businesses, think wider and contact local press, radio stations and editors of local newsletters. Remember, this is for charity and many organisations will be happy to give you another platform for your fundraising. You could try hospital radio, parish magazines, online bulletin boards – anywhere you can get your story told! Our fundraising toolkit includes letter templates to help you get in touch with local companies.